BERLIN (AP) — Augsburg boosted its chances of Bundesliga survival by beating Wolfsburg 3-0 on Sunday.
Goals from Iago, Florian Niederlechner and Mads Pedersen were enough to lift Augsburg three points above Arminia Bielefeld and Hertha Berlin in the relegation zone and two points above Stuttgart having played a game less than its rivals.
Augsburg hosts Mainz in their coronavirus-postponed game on Wednesday, after which all teams will have six games left to play.
Wolfsburg was without coach Florian Kohfeldt due to his coronavirus infection. Kohfeldt was fired from his former club Werder Bremen after losing in Augsburg last season.
Assistant coach Vincent Heilmann replaced Kohfeldt on Sunday but saw his Wolfsburg team concede in the first minute when Brazilian defender Iago took the ball past Maximilian Arnold with his first touch and swept it inside the far post with his next.
Niederlechner, who hadn’t scored for Augsburg since October, made it 2-0 in the 63rd when he volleyed in from close range after a corner.
Niederlechner set up Danish defender Pedersen to seal the win in the 69th.
SOMMER SAVES GLADBACH
Borussia Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer preserved his team’s 1-1 draw with Mainz as the visitors fought back and almost claimed a late win.
Sommer made several outstanding saves to deny Mainz. In the 89th minute, Jonathan Burkardt drew another fine stop from the goalkeeper, who had to react again to deny Lee Jae-sung from the rebound. The ball struck the crossbar and rebounded back off the line.
Breel Embolo put Gladbach ahead in the 33rd but the visitors regrouped and deservedly equalized through Karim Onisiwo, who was set up by Lee, in the 63rd. Sommer prevented any worse for Gladbach.
Bayern Munich stretched its lead to nine points on Saturday with a 4-1 win in Freiburg before second-placed Borussia Dortmund lost at home to Leipzig 4-1.
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